If you have used the windows or external doors of your house lately then you may have noticed that it has been snowing. Not ideal BMX/ skating weather (unless you want to catch the mother of all colds like I have) but fortunately we have quite a few indoor parks in the area now! The new set up at Redcar is completely finished with 6 separate areas, 4 of which are shown in the picture below. There’s a great rhythm section, a bowl which I haven’t ridden but am reliably informed is ace, a street type area in the middle with your usual obstacles and a really fun street line along the bottom of the picture. It was absolutely heaving when I went up there the other week for BMX night but it still worked great because the separate sections mean that you aren’t constantly crossing over other lines. There’s also a couple of kiddy areas that kept the NSF senior squad entertained when the adrenaline levels got too high in the main park… we’ve all got to be up up for work these days and you don’t want to be kept awake reliving your epic Rubenesque transfers across the bowl to the vert all night.

The build at Dynamix is coming along great too. The stuff near the front door is all finished now and makes for a really fun area, with a curved wall ride and a really nice flat ledge. The bowl is coming along very well too and there’s plenty of stuff lying around in the concrete amphitheatre to construct a really fun set up that’s different every time you go (more parks should do this… light, movable obstacles that can be reconfigured so that it never gets old). If you’re ‘foaming’ at the mouth to go upside down then neck a couple of energy drinks and make the ascent up Mt. Foamiyama. When you reach the summit you will be greeted by one of the best foam pits around, with wallrides on the side. There’s a resi ramp as well for once you’ve got the moves into the foam. However, all this stuff is nothing compared to the plans that are afoot (see below). Some of the stuff looks a bit on the big side to me but I hurt when I get up and I’m not sending it like I used to! They love feedback so let them know what you think about the plans over at the Dynamix Facebook page. If all this stuff goes ahead then we’ll have a world class skatepark on our doorsteps.

Last but definitely not least Override skatepark in South Shields is coming along from what I hear… No pictures just yet but the plans look amazing.. a simple park layout with something for everyone!

An indoor skatepark is for life, not just for winter so make sure you visit both these parks through the summer too!